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The Week Ahead: July 17-23

Hello, Memphis! Young, local artists are in the spotlight this week with a couple of art shows where you can meet these talented youths and someday say, “I knew them before they were famous.” Check out details on those, plus more cool events and hot happenings in The Week Ahead…

(Daily News File/Andrew J. Breig)

The Carpenter Art Garden is hosting an art show this week to celebrate its fifth anniversary. The annual art show, set for Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 295 Carpenter St., will feature artwork for sale by children from Binghampton and the local artists who’ve taught them. Attendees will also be able to tour Carpenter Art Garden properties. Organizers are asking for a $20 donation at the door; the event includes appetizers, beer and wine, and proceeds benefit the Carpenter Art Garden.

And in more art news… A group of young metalheads – no, not that kind of metalhead – will be showing off their work at The Metal Museum’s “Cu in Summer: Inspirations” reception and sale Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Everything in the show was created by local students ages 14-17 who took part in the museum’s summer intensive, where they learned techniques like welding, enameling and casting. All proceeds from sales go directly to the students, so this is a great chance to pick up some unique pieces for your personal collection.

Want your business to take off? NASA representatives are heading to Memphis Tuesday for their first contracting outreach forum here, where they’ll teach businesses how they can become NASA suppliers, subcontractors or service providers. Attendees also will have the chance to meet face-to-face with NASA prime contractors. Tuesday’s forum is runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Southwest Tennessee Community College’s Union Avenue campus. It’s free, but registration is required.

We hear the information is out of this world. It could be the launch pad for something great. ...Ah, space puns. We could do this all day.

With the school year just around the corner, nine elementary schools in the Shelby County Schools system are getting what you might call a deep cleaning Saturday in an effort by Volunteer Memphis, Memphis City Beautiful and Clean Memphis. They will provide the cleaning supplies and refreshments at each of the schools starting at 8 a.m. that morning. The schools are Dexter, A.B. Hill, Vollentine, Sharpe, Hamilton, Scenic Hills, Rozelle, Highland Oaks and Richland. If you want to pitch in or donate supplies, check out the volunteer opportunities at each school here.

Shelby County Commissioners are seeing a lot of each other these days. Monday’s meeting is the third time they’ve met in a week, including the committee session last Wednesday at which they amended the county property tax rate ordinance. Monday, they’ll take a decisive but not final vote on that rate, which was amended to a proposed $4.13 instead of $4.10. There are other items on the agenda for the 3 p.m. meeting at the Vasco Smith Administration Building, 160 N. Main St, but that’s the one that should have the most discussion and debate.

The Shelby County Election Commission meets Tuesday, and the meeting will include a demonstration of a new way of voting that politicos have been discussing off and on for quite a few years locally. It is called “ranked choice voting.” With this method, you go to vote – early or Election Day – and instead of just touching the block on the touchscreen next to the candidate of your choice, you would pick several candidates and rank your preference for as many or as few as you wanted by putting a number by their names.

This would eliminate runoff elections for Memphis City Council single-member district seats; those are only races that currently go to a runoff if no one gets a majority of the votes cast.

This is an idea that has critics and proponents. Whichever side ultimately prevails, the touchscreen machines we use now – which don’t allow for ranked choices – will be around for a while longer. The election commission is moving toward new voting machines but Election Administrator Linda Phillips said the soonest they would be in use is the 2022 midterm elections.

(Memphis Redbirds)

With the wave of a magic wand, AutoZone Park is turning into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the Memphis Redbirds’ Harry Potter Night on Friday. They’re promising a night of “magical enchantment, spells, and baseball,” plus a pre-game Friday Night Block Party with live music and $2 beers. Gates open at 6 p.m., and first pitch against the Las Vegas 51s is at 7:05 p.m. Get your tickets here or call the box office at 901-721-6000.

Take your yoga mat to High Cotton Brewing Co. for Pint and Pilates Wednesday night. Your $15 admission includes a 5:30 p.m. Pilates mat class taught by Club Pilates – East Memphis followed by a post-class pint of High Cotton beer, and net proceeds will be donated to Girls Inc. Reserve a spot by calling 901-646-5054.

Muddy’s Book Club is going deep this month. The featured title is “Becoming Wise,” by Krista Tippett. The book’s cover itself describes it as “an inquiry into the mystery and art of living,” which makes it a typical kind of Muddy’s Book Club read. The East Memphis sweet treat shop regularly invites anyone who wants to participate to come and talk about books that “enlighten and broaden our minds and spirits.” The gathering is set for Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Muddy’s in East Memphis, at 5101 Sanderlin Ave.

The reorganization of the Shelby County Democratic Party moves beyond setting ground rules Saturday with a countywide party convention at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church. The gavel falls at 11:30 a.m., and don’t expect those funny hats you see at the national conventions once every four years – it’s not that kind of convention. Those attending will be electing a new local party executive committee and something new: a larger Grassroots Democratic Council that includes that executive committee and others totaling around 130 people. The executive committee elects a new local party chairman and tends to the basic chores of the party. The grassroots council meets quarterly and is an advisory group that also guides where the local party goes in terms of issues and recruiting candidates. The state Democratic Party ordered the local party to disband last August after years of dysfunction on the executive committee.

The judicial commission responsible for coming up with a list of three finalists to fill a Shelby County Circuit Court vacancy is in Memphis Friday for public interviews with the five local attorneys who have applied. The vacancy was created by the retirement of Judge Robert Childers at the end of June. The 9 a.m. session at the Marriott Memphis East, 5795 Poplar Ave., also offers a chance for public comment. Look for the commission to release a list of the three finalists it is recommending to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam by the end of the day Friday.

(facebook.com)

Church Health on Thursday is hosting its Living Well Education Series, a free and interactive two-hour class that addresses the needs of people with chronic health conditions. The class will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Church Health’s Behavioral Health Department on the third floor at Crosstown Concourse. Part one of the class offers strategies for improving eating habits, and part two explores basic concepts of movement and exercise for those with chronic illnesses. Pre-registration is not required.

The Center City Development Corp. holds its monthly meeting Wednesday at 9 a.m., and this month’s agenda includes a trio of new redevelopment projects seeking Exterior Improvement Grants from the Downtown Memphis Commission affiliate board. All three projects – located at 55 S. Main St., 26 S. Main St., and 672 Marshall Ave. – are seeking the grant money in an effort to attract new commercial tenants.

...And the best meeting of the week is the Beale Street Task Force’s late-night rendezvous Saturday. The task force is reviewing the entertainment district’s cover charge and security measures with an eye toward some better ideas. So, the group will get together Saturday at 11 p.m. on Beale Street, and yes, they’ll pay the $5 cover charge. Silky’s is the specific meeting location.

The Daily News staff compiles The Week Ahead for you, our readers, every week. You'll receive it as part of our Monday online edition. Email associate editor Kate Simone at ksimone@memphisdailynews.com if you have items for consideration.